Roni's Brownies Tour

Heading east on Turner Street, Allentown, pass 17th Street and turn right on West. The little display on your right at 114 N. West St., full of stuffed toys and extending all the way to the third floor, is a tribute to Merquis Antonio Colon, who died four years ago at age 20 months. His family wrote me, "To help ourselves with the healing, we enjoy the smiles, finger pointings, oohs and ahhs from passersby who enjoy the display."

Turn right on Linden, left on 17th and follow to Fairview, where you'll turn right and enjoy the longtime display at Fairview and St. Cloud. To avoid the bridge under construction, continue to 18th Street, turn right, right again on West Union, left on 17th and left on Hamilton. Turn left on Leh to see the great display at 2233 W. Union — collecting for Second Harvest Food Bank — turn left on Union and then right on 22nd. My judges loved the display at 427 S. 22nd St., which includes the first Christmas Hello Kitty I can recall.

Turn right twice again and then left when you hit Fairview. Check the display on your left at 2352 Fairview, turn right on 24th, left on Union and cross Ott onto Reading Road, where you'll see beautiful spot-lit Nativity cutouts at 2718. The same family has an even bigger collection of these at 2063 Flint Hill Road, Upper Saucon, but I couldn't work it into a route.

Turn right on College Drive, right on Hamilton and then left on Ott and follow to Tilghman, where you'll turn right. Make a left on N. 23rd to see 716 N. 23rd beautifully outlined in lights. There are lots of nice displays in this area, so drive around. If you continue on N. 23rd to Congress and turn left, you'll find a nice display — including Santa dunking into the basketball hoop — at 2440 W. Congress. Turn left when Congress ends, right onto W. Highland, right onto 26th (1117 on the right was another nominee) and bear right onto Whitehall, checking out 1245 on your right.

Turn left at Columbia. Pass the display on your left at 1350 N. 26th and turn right on Broad. You'll see blowup mania at 2730 Russell at the corner of Broad and Russell. Turn right, then left on N. 27th — 1602 features the only outside leg lamp I've seen — and right on Walbert. Turn left at Whitehall, pass Kratzer School and turn left on Wehr and right on Maria Lane to see 1972. Go back and turn left on Whitehall, turn left on Focht and right on Greenawalds for the sprawling display at 2040 Greenawalds. Is that a sparkling Eiffel Tower?

Turn right on Albright, left on Whitehall and right on Pirma. At the bottom of the hill, turn left onto Mauch Chunk, go past Gallagher, turn right on Linden and right on Elmhurst to see the giant lit tree, the sleigh on the roof and other attractions at 1727.

Return to Mauch Chunk, turn right and then right on Schadt. Just after crossing MacArthur Road, turn right on Hampshire for a very nice display on your right at 1291 Hampshire. Return to MacArthur, turn left and then use the jug handle to get onto Grape Street, where you'll pass Toys "R" Us and turn left on Jordan Boulevard. Turn right on American and follow to the corner of American and Eighth, where 1053 Eighth St. is beautifully decorated on all sides.

Now for the finale. Return to Grape and turn left. Cross over 3rd St./Fullerton, follow to the bottom of the hill and turn left on Front. The musical display on your right at 36 Franklin St. is fantastic, although you need to get there before 9 on a weeknight and before 10 on the weekend. Tune in 92.3 and watch the lights dance.